Baby’s Birth Sampler has become my “downstairs” project lately. The definition of “downstairs” project can be found here. This is the progress I have made so far:
The following are the symbolic meanings I have found for the various motifs:
1. Tulips (stitched in yellow) symbolize Perfect Love. I pray that Baby would know that she is loved, and would embrace the Source of Perfect Love – God Himself.
2. Dianthus/Carnation (stitched in peachy pink) symbolize Maternal Love. I do hope and pray often that there isn’t something seriously lacking in my love for Baby, and that if there is, I would be made aware of it immediately.
3. Thistle (I think of these as thistles, stitched in crimson) symbolize Protection. I pray for that A LOT for Baby.
4. Daisy (stitched in peachy pink in the middle of the motif) symbolize Humility. We all need a bit of that in our life, don’t we? I pray for humility to prevail in my relationship with Baby, and that she would learn to humble herself before her Creator in all her life.
5. Flowers in general (stitched in peachy pink) symbolize Nature. I pray that Baby would learn to appreciate the glory of nature and the One who had created it.
As for the blue urn…
If you aren’t new to my blog, you will know exactly why I have stitched the urn blue — that’s because of my love for the British blue dishes!! This particular urn is my rendition of the Wedgwood Jasper — I don’t have any deep meaning for this except that I hope Baby would “inherit” my dish-aholism! :)
6. Heart (stitched in pink) symbolizes Love or Divine Love. See #1 (Tulips).
7. Forget-me-not (stitched in blue) symbolizes Friendship and Loyalty. My prayer is that Baby would find herself loyal and loving friends throughout her life. More importantly, she would know The FRIEND who sticks closer than a brother.
8. Butterfly (stitched in blue) symbolizes Resurrection or New Beginning. I have prayed for a long long time for Baby, before she was born, to know the power of Resurrection.
Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed seeing the progress I have made on the sampler. It has been a most meaningful endeavor for me.
(In case you are wondering, this is the Bienvenue Sampler by Long Dog Samplers, inspired by the Ackworth Schoolgirl Samplers).
Ivory Spring 
Beautiful Wendy and a great explanation. I am sure it will be very meaningful to Baby
I dearly love this Wendy – what a lovely and thoughtful creation!
Wendy ~ Your sampler is coming along nicely and thank you for your interpretation. Beautiful!
Beautiful! And every bit of it is rich with meaning.
It’s beautiful Wendy! I’m sure your daughter will treasure it. Lovely, lovely work!
Your handwork is beautiful — you are such an inspiring seamstress, and your work is heirloom whether it’s delicate hand embroidery or elaborate machine quilting. It’s nice to see someone else who likes to do things both ways. I love your “downstairs project” idea. I worked on a hand quilted quilt in a lap hoop for about 2 years when my youngest was a baby, and just like you, some days I only got a few inches of stitches in. My friends who don’t hand quilt would look at me in horror and say things like, “How long did THAT take you?!” as though they had caught me cutting my lawn with a scissors, one blade at a time… :-) But I find handwork really relaxing, and especially when my days consisted largely of doing the same work over and over again (dress the baby, feed the baby, change the baby, bathe the baby, dress the baby, etc.) it really felt good to be working on something that was lasting and cumulative. So your baby sampler brings me warm fuzzy memories!
And by the way, I took my Artista in for its well-baby maintenance and overdue BSR update, and I had them order Through the Needle Issue 28 with your article in it for me. You have inspired me to give machine quilting another try. Thank you!
Love the symbolism Wendy!
What sweet symbolism, and what a neat prayer reminder.
You are making progress on that sampler!! It looks wonderful. Stitching over 1 again?
WOW! I’m so touched with all those prayers!